JANUARY 6th COMMITTEE HEARING TAKEAWAYS FOR JUNE 28th

Further evidence that the whole "Trump Won" movement is the most vile, un-American filth to have come across the United States in over a century.

 The Lincoln Project released the following takeaways from the sixth January 6th Committee Hearing that took place June 28th:

 After six hearings, it is clear that Donald Trump directed a conspiracy to overthrow the results of a valid election and install himself as the illegitimate ruler of the United States of America. 

 His conspiracy included creating legal fictions to sow doubts about election security, reject the outcome of an election he knew he lost, team with white supremacists to cause an insurrection, and then cover it up with a story of deflection and blame to keep the truth hidden.  

 The hearing today confirmed that Trump – in the most anti-democratic action ever taken by an American President – tried to personally lead the January 6th insurrection up the steps of the Capitol and onto the floor of the House of Representatives to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election and confirming his loss.

 Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony showed without a shadow of doubt that Donald Trump and his staff were aware of the potential for violence days in advance and counted on it to provide him an opportunity to stay in power. 

 White House Counsel Pat Cipollone understood that laws were being broken. He told Hutchinson to stop Trump from going up to Capitol Hill because they were “going to be charged with every crime imaginable”. Yet Trump ignored his legal counsel and persisted in trying to lead the mob. 

 Trump’s actions on January 6th prove he had insight into the mob. At his own rally on the Ellipse, he wanted the Secret Service to shut off the metal detectors – an unthinkable act for anyone who is provided a security detail. Trump was confident because he knew they weren’t there to harm him, but were there to stop Congress from certifying the election. 

 

Read the rest here

A Nation Lacking the Political Will to Defend Itself

Please, don't ask me to pray because I can't imagine anything more obscene than trying to pray our way out of this gun violence nightmare.

There are always two responses after a school shooting. Some people will ask, “How many times are we going to let this happen before we finally do something?” The answer to that is at least one more time because we haven’t done a fucking thing yet, even after countless bloodbaths.What if someone murdered a hundred children? Would that be enough for the nation to act? What about a thousand?

 Then we have conservative assholes warning the nation that the tragedy shouldn’t be politicized. FuckFace Carlson called it “desecrating the memory of the murdered children” while the blonde former Nazi women’s concentration camp guard on Fox screeches that “tragedy is not the time to shame our nation.”

The conservative answer is to turn schools into prisons while allowing any diseased asshole to buy an assault weapon without waiting any longer than the time it takes to hand over the cash. This strategy has been working out really well unless you include the countless mass shootings we’ve had over the years.

 It sickens me to see police running around in full military regalia and shouldering assault weapons AFTER a mass shooting, as if more firearms at this point are of any use at all. Has there ever been an incident after a mass shooting in which more firepower was necessary? Never. So why are cops running around like they are in the middle of a war zone screaming at children and grieving parents?

I would argue that this display of force worsens the situation by showing people that firepower solves problems. And so we get to the root of our issue in America: people see guns as a way to solve problems; guns are a solution.

Apart from hunters and target shooters, people buy guns to solve a perceived problem. The problem is mostly that they have very small, very flaccid penises and they hope that a gun will solve this problem. Or they think owning a gun will make them safer which is mostly untrue. Or they want to kill people. Guns certainly can solve the problem of killing people, something proven over and over again:

 “In 2020 alone, more than 45,000 Americans died at the end of a barrel of a gun, whether by homicide or suicide, more than any other year on record. The figure represents a 25% increase from five years prior, and a 43% increase from 2010.”

Guns are really good at killing people. If the problem you have is ending a life, a gun is definitely the answer, but your dick is still going to be small and limp, just like before.

Imagine a City Without Cars

Before with Traffic

Plaza del Ayuntamiento Today

One more piece in the puzzle to make Valencia's historic center a pedestrian zone was the grand Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the city square. This photo doesn't really do the square justice because you see so few people walking around. On any given day, the square is teeming with people. This project had some very bitter opposition, although no one is complaining now, especially not any of the businesses in the square which have all been overrun with clients. Take away cars and people rush in filling the vacuum.

This video shows a portion of the pedestrian project for the Mercado Central and La Lonja de la Seda area. On the other side, the Plaza de Brujas has also undergone a major facelift. Before, this area was nothing but cars racing past.

Before

 

It Takes Two to Play

 Playing catch with a youngster is a time-honored pleasure, except when it isn’t. What if you throw the ball to the kid and they walk off somewhere and just chew on it and never give it back? How many times would this have to happen before you took them to the orphanage and gave them up to a good home…or maybe a not-so-good home?

As if the Content of this Garbage isn't Dangerous Enough for Humanity

I can’t even remember the last time I had fast-food, perhaps a few decades ago. I’ve forgotten how much packaging is involved with every order. I’m sure that lots of other take-out food is also wrapped up on landfill-filling amounts of paper and plastic. Without even addressing the question of littering, it's an ecological crime scene with all evidence pointing to the King.